The Secret Mantra by Chaitra KR

I received the book The Secret Mantra by Chaitra KR as a review copy from Leadstart publications. It is the first fantasy fiction book that I have read which has a dash of mythology too.

The Blurb:

“For the love of reading, writing and sheer appreciation for the craft of creative expression, a mother and her teenage son collaborated to unleash the Secret Mantra. Chaitra and her teenage son Sunjay are avid readers and enjoy embarking upon fun-filled imaginative journeys of the mind inside the core of fantasy books and stories. They found a purpose to collaborate together with ideas of Indian mythology, interwoven with an imaginative story enjoying the experience together in creating the Secret Mantra. There is an age-old adage saying that: There comes a point in time when the avid book reader would become a writer and create a world of fantasy, build characters and test their endurance in a fulfilled mental escape into a supernatural adventure of the legends.

We hope you enjoy the journey with us!

The story:

Anthara was brought up by her grandmother, Ajji, in a remote place on the Himalayas. Ajji teaches her Sanskrit mantras, an ancient of self-defense early in her childhood among other things. Anthara does not meet many people while growing up. Later she meets Virat and they get married with Ajji’s blessings.

One night, Virat gets up from sleep, looking for Anthara, his wife, who has gone missing, and suspects she is sleepwalking again. They have to leave the next morning on an errand. Next morning, they leave the house before dawn breaks loading the van with all the necessities required for the journey.

Unnoticed by them, somebody is observing them and tracking their moves. What happens next?

Read the adventures of Anthara which are filled with illusions, traps and riddles as she meets many people and goes to many places all in the space of one day.

My take:

The story is nice and has been written in a simple language. I got a little confused at first when the story moved from the present into flashback but few more pages down, I knew I would not be able to put the book down because the author had pulled me into Anthara’s adventurous journey. The scenes have been described very well, I could actually see Uhar narrating the story to Anthara.

Loved the story. I am planning to give it to my twelve year old to read (with a few omissions) because I feel that she would enjoy it too.

Disclaimer: I received a free paperback copy of the book from the publisher in return for my honest review. I have NOT received any monetary compensation for the same.